the first issue.. is how to harden it off.. and for how long.. before you can actually leave it outside ... this might take a couple weeks.. and what are the temps going to be then??? .. for those of us who have to use a conversion program.. its 50 degrees F .... during the day ... i leave it to you to figure out 0 C ... lol

then we will have to wonder if it will actually stop growing.. and go dormant.. without just rotting ... which often happens with stock that is in active growth when the frosts and freezes hit ...

so what do we do then ... other than keep it in the house.. and wonder if it has a requisite dormancy???

if you havent already.. stop ferting it ...

you used the plural above.. how many do you actually have ...

ken

Thanks for the reply, makes sense, if transplanted, the seedlings will be shocked and die since dormancy is a gradual process I assume. I have 3 more of same size, pacific giants, and other seedlings of various smaller sizes. Never grown delphinium before and wanted to assess growth rate, germination rate etc. I've read some start them in dec and januray for bloom first year, however im assuming in cooler conditions.

I could transplant one out to see what happens, and as for the rest keep them indoors and dead head them once they get too tall, that should buy me some time till spring?

I have started Delphinium D. elatum x D. cheilanthuim indoors in the fall to grow over winter under lights. They never got as tall as they do outside, but one or two of them actually bloomed! It was great having them :) And the plants went on to survive well outside.

Update ! They're about to.bloom

Exciting Enshalla! I’ve been following along. I would think most people would say to cut them back to stimulate root growth....but of course I wouldn’t follow that advice because I would want to see what colour they turned out to be after all this waiting -lol. What colour will they be, or do you know? I am very interested in the technique you used to get your seeds to germinate...and which delphiniums you have . Did you put them through a cold period? 15 years ago I grew Delphinium from seed (Black Knight) and they have survived all these years (Muskoka, Ontario zone 4b?) but I have not been successful in germinating any Black Knight seeds since. This past spring I coddled 2 seedlings along, but they turned out to be weeds 😖. I KNEW they weren’t delphiniums, but I was hopeful that the fairy godmother would wave her magic wand and make them delphiniums.

I know I didn’t put the original seed (15 years ago) through any cold period...I bought the seeds probably at the Canadian Tire and plunked them in a jiffy plug thing....probably in March.

I bought new seeds after my weed coddling (I can’t believe how difficult it is to get the Black Knight, either as seed or plant or weed) and was going to try that milk jug method thing this winter because I was thinking I’d run into the same situation that you are now in, if I had planted them later in the summer.

Hi Gargamel, these are pacific giant seeds sold to me by a lady who collected them fresh. I've been trying different ways to germniate them and using the internet's advice to chill them in wet paprr towel fir 36 hours, seems to work. I've also kept some them in paper towel in a plastic ziploc bag on top of the fridge after chilling them, and monitored them daily. After 10 days, the roots started showing up at which point they were planted in individual cups, they the sprouted a few days later. However, I find it easier if after chilling they were directly sown in individual cups. Also they must be sown below the surface of the soil, they need to rub against the soil while sprouting to get rid of the seed coat. That's my findings so far, since these werr sown mid august, sprouting early september, they had the benefit of warmth in the house (days and nights) on a sunny southern exposure window, I found they response well to sun and heat and perhaps thats why I'm getting flowers so early, I thought I'd have to wait a year ! Apparently flowering is initiated by heat so certainly thats the case here. Anyhow these being pacific giants, they certainly on the dwarf side when grown indoors, plants didnt have a chance to bulk up. I'll cut the flower stalk when done flowering, plant should remain alive and grow good roots so I can plant it out next april or may, the house will get colder in the upcoming months and days shorter, so they should slow down. Still Im facinated how quick they were to reach bloom stage, must say though first month they were painfully slow, especially that first true leaf to appear !

Getting close to 2ft tall, no visible colours

oh that is getting exciting enshalla!

Oh yes ! We'll see how this goes, maybe makes a nice xmas present if timing is right. There's mini spikes appearing every leaf node.

Getting well over 2 ft tall now, one is 2 ft and the other 3ft. Will transplant to better looking pots.

Beautiful, enasalla. White delphiniums for Xmas instead of Amaryllis and/or poinsettias 🤗

In addition to amaryllis ! Went crazy this year and bought 5, missed having them. So you think they're white too? Yeah I guess they will be which I don't mind, find white to be the most elegant. Although wouldn't mind a blue one. There's another delphinium that's got some catching up to do, maybe will be blue.

Lol about the amarylliseseses enshalla! I restrained myself this year (because I have 7 of them sitting in the basement, which I’ve held over for quite a few years). But they won’t be blooming at Christmas ...so I told myself I needed some for Christmas, and then I told myself I didn’t. I felt like Gollum talking to myself

7 amayrillis! the more the better. Last one I picked up was a double variety from homedepot, had 4 little bulblets attached! Couldn't resist.

What colour was it enshalla. I only bought amaryllis once from H. Depot and it was a very pretty pink. i bought some miniature ones from Veseys (?) and they were really cute. I had 2 red lions in my hands a few weeks ago while I was in the Independent, but that was when I had my Gollum conversation. BUT it has just occurred to me that I could buy my Grandsons each one for Christmas, and they would have the pleasure of watching it grow!

It's called sweet nymph, seems light pink and double from the pic at HD. Was a loose bulb not the ones u buy already potted up, could see tiny bulblets at the base and one mature offset on the side still attached to mother. Its already sending 2 stems.

If you have access to ikea they have the best deal on potted amaryllis, red or

Here we go

Very pretty enshalla. that’s a nice looking amaryllis as well. Are your coleus’ from cuttings or did you bring them in. I tried coleus from cuttings (in water) but I just threw them out

Cheers, Coleus were cuttings from 2 months ago, they take a week or two to start rooting. The trick is to remove alot of the big leaves as the stem cannot support them anymore and should concentrate on making roots, also if using a cup cover it with a clear ziplock to retain humidity in bright light not direct sun

How are your delphiniums doing enshalla? I’m about to plant my delphinium seeds. I’ve had them in the freezer since last spring...so I guess I don’t have to do the milk jug thing. I’m just going to plant them and leave them them in my cool basement. I’ve got florescent lights set up down there for if/when they germinate. I hope it works

Are your delphiniums still alive and did you plant them in the garden in the spring?

Well, my delphinium seed sowing started off really well...but it is now a big FAIL! I did the cold treatment and sowed them in seed starting mix. They all germinated, but I had sown them in a tray and I think when I pricked them out to transplant them they did not like it. i should have sown them directly into little pots, I think. What sort of soil mix did you transplant yours into? I transplanted mine into Promix, bit they have done absolutely nothing, except die. i couldn’t figure out if it was the promix or the transplanting, or both, which caused the problem.

Im leaening as I go too, definitely avoid stressing and damaging roots. What worked for me was to sprout them in paper towel in ziploc bag, maybe 2 days in frudge first, takes about 10 days to show roots, then transfer them to good size pot (I use cups). Potting soil is important, especially Drainage !! Miracle grow holds too much water and can rot the roots, especially when seedlings are young and dont absorb much water, the soil in cups can stay wet for a week, not good. I set in the sunny windows and fertilize with slow release

These are some seedlings started this year, might get some blooms

Oh I am jealous Nabil! They look really good. Did you make your own potting soil to get the drainage problem solved...?

Added as much drainage holes as possible in the cups and ended up planting them out, bottom roots were rotten but they recovered, next time will mix the potting soil with vermiculite. Also the battle with slugs is tiring, im still not convinced they'll do well, thinking of switching to larkspur